My Favorite Ninja
by Duchess67
Summary: Vin gets into trouble and is rescued by someone unexpected.


Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters you recognize.

A/N: This is set in, but not strictly adhering to, Mog's ATF universe. I'm just glad she invited the rest of us to play! :)

ATF Agent Vin Tanner had been shot in the leg when he'd tried to get away from where Mort Jensen and his eight goons had taken him. As he hit the ground, he groaned and thought, "Why is it always an abandoned warehouse district, regardless of the city or town we're in?"

He'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and seen something the men didn't want him to ever tell anyone about. The dangers of living in Denver's Purgatorio, Vin just knew Chris was going to start nagging at him to move again now. If he survived.

He assessed his surroundings, looking for help or at least a weapon. Only the homeless and runaways lived around this area and all of them melted away as if they'd never been there, so Vin was sure he was pretty sure he about to die and Chris would have to say "I told you so!" to his tombstone.

Four goons surrounded Tanner where he lay, trying to staunch the flow of blood with his outer shirt and his belt. He looked up at them and was proud of the fact that at least they showed he'd put up a fight. Two were limping, one already had two black eyes from his broken nose and the third looked like his jaw had been dislocated. All of them were in better shape than the four they'd left behind as they chased him.

Jensen came running up and kicked Vin in his wounded leg, then spat out blood as well as a tooth onto the pavement, "I'm gonna make you suffer for this!"

Tanner hissed in pain, then laughed, "You and what army, these guys?" He made a scoffing noise.

Movement of a vehicle coming around the corner of the nearest building made the bad guys yank Tanner to his feet and the one in charge stood in front of his prisoner so that the blood running down the Agent's leg wouldn't be visible.

A long, black limo pulled up and the back window rolled down, to reveal a beautiful, brunett that waved a city map with her left hand. "Yoo hoo! Can you boys show me where I am? I'm afraid my driver has gotten us lost and I'll be late for my interview."

Before the bad guys knew what was happening, they had three guns on them and the woman's gun was aimed right at the man in charge. "If you do anything other than exactly what I say, I will kill you. Do you understand me, Mortimer Jensen?"

With an audible gulp, Jensen nodded.

"Put your guns down on the ground and then kick them away. The woman asked, "Young man, are any of these hooligans in possession of anything belonging to you?"

With a tilt of his head, Tanner indicated the one on his left, "This one has my gun."

She actually glared, "You, give this young man back his property, very carefully. My driver, who is quite competent at directions AND a sure shot, will have you in his sights and if he even THINKS you're going to try something stupid, I'm asking him to shoot you in that large pimple on your left cheek. Yes, he's that good, so don't test him."

The henchman very carefully, using only two fingers, took Vin's gun out of his pocket and handed it back to him.

Smiling as if at a very bright pupil, the woman praised him enthusiastically, "I knew you could do it! Now, young man, can you walk on that leg?"

Vin told her, "If it means I can get away from these guys, yes ma'am!"

She smirked, "Then Mr. Jensen, you need to order your people to let that nice looking young man go. Keep in mind that my first shot will be aimed right at your heart." When they all did as ordered, she said, "Come get into the car on the other side from me, young man. We'll get you to a hospital where that bullet hole can be taken care of properly."

As soon as Vin was behind her car, she told the men, "You all need to run along over that way. I'd like you to be as far away from your guns as possible when we drive away. I really don't want to have to shoot you, police reports being such a bore, but I'll do it if you force me to."

The men all backed away and at her direction, into the nearby warehouse.

Once Vin was inside, seated as comfortably as possible, the body guard and the driver both got back into the car and the woman's window was rolled up. Without spinning out, the driver still managed to pull away quickly.

The five men ran out to grab their guns and were just picking them up when police came flying around the buildings from every direction. Yells to drop the weapons and put their hands on top of their heads were heard and their day went from bad to worse.

+7+

Christopher Larabee stalked into the E.R. with Buck Wilmington and Nathan Jackson flanking him on either side.

The men were known, so he didn't even have to ask, he was told the minute he approached the desk which way to go to find his wounded team member.

The curtain was pulled to block the view into the glass wall of the cubicle and two burly men in suits stood outside the door, looking very intimidating to anyone that walked by.

Chris stepped up to them, they nodded and the one on the left said, "You're expected, sir. Go right in." Suiting action to words, he opened the door and stood out of the way. Laughter poured out, startling Chris into yanking the curtain aside.

Vin stopped laughing at the look on his boss/friend's face, "Aw hell."

"What the hell happened, Tanner!"

The woman that had been sitting in a chair by his side stood up and held out a hand, "You must be Mr. Larabee and oh my, you really do have a good glare!"

That startled Chris into looking at the woman and taking her proffered hand.

She squeezed it as she ordered, "Don't get mad at Vincent, he didn't ask to be accosted, kidnapped and shot. Blame Mortimer Jensen and his crew of miscreants!"

The fact the woman didn't seem fazed by his glare or height had Larabee a little off kilter. "And you are," Chris asked, pointedly.

Vin spoke up now and in his tone was a reprimand, "Mind yer manners in front of the lady that saved my life, Larabee." When Chris glared at him again, the younger man rolled his eyes and said, "This is Ms. Leah Stevenson. She and her people at the door, saw me in trouble and stepped in. The cops have already been here to take their statements about it all and she's already wasted most of her day helping me, so don't you go giving her the third degree!"

Chris looked slightly chastised, "Thanks for helping my Agent, Ms Stevenson."

She smiled, "My pleasure, Mr. Larabee."

Nathan was already looking over Vin's chart, ignoring everything else.

Vin tried to distract the medic, "It was a through and through, Nate, I'm fine!"

The tall black man took a half step to the side in order to avoid Tanner's grab for the chart without even looking and mumbled, "Uh huh. I'll find out for myself, thank you."

Buck's face had lit up at the sight of the woman and his eyebrows had gone up at her name. He chose that moment to bring out the Wilmington charm, "Thank you, Ma'am, for taking such good care of our friend here. You have no idea of the favor you've done for us and if there's EVER anything you need, please, give us a call?" He kissed her hand and then handed her his card with a flourish.

Leah's smile widened and she looked down at the man on the hospital bed, "Oh, he's good!"

Vin chuckled and nodded, "Told ya."

Leah laughed and shook her head, "Missed opportunities! Well, now that you're in such good hands, I'll take my leave. You come see me when that leg heals enough, you hear me, Vincent Ezekiel Tanner?"

Much to Chris' surprise, Tanner blushed at the use of his full name.

"Yes, Mama Leah."

Leah's mock stern expression softened and she ruffled the young man's hair affectionately. She then bent over to kiss his forehead while all three of his teammates just stared in surprise that he let her. He didn't even let Miss Nettie touch the hair!

When she stood again, her gaze pierced each and every man standing, "Take care of my favorite ninja!" That said, she walked out the door.

Chris and Nathan looked at each other and mouthed, "Ninja?" at the other. Chris then heard a choked sound and turned to see Buck who stood with a look of dumbstruck consternation on his face as he looked at Vin.

Looking to his wounded Agent, Chris was shocked to see the young man blushing redder than he'd ever seen him before.

Nathan briefly worried for his health.

Buck started to say something when Tanner interrupted, "Bucklin, there's things in ALL our pasts we don't talk about for damn good reasons!"

Buck looked angry, "You couldn't have been more than a boy!"

Shaking his head, Vin denied that, "I was eighteen, if only just. If you'll recall what bits I've told all of you about my life that was just after a bad time for me."

"How the hell did you even meet her?"

Exasperated now, Vin snapped, "Buck, she'd lived in Purgatorio for nearly fourteen years before I got there, knew everything that went on and NOBODY messed with her. She still does and they still don't! Mama Leah saw me within a week of hittin' town and took me under her wing, just like she's done for a lot of other people. It's because of her I have most of my skills. She made sure I had schoolin' and paid for my martial arts classes. She didn't go to my graduation or tournaments because she said it would have distracted from my 'shining moment' or somethin' like that, said the same thing about my graduation from boot camp. She's got videos of both, though. Mama Leah took care of me and a lots of of others. The whole bunch of us owe her nearly everything and she only asked for one or two favors. One of those was that we not talk about her. In the week leadin' up to my eighteenth birthday, she begged me until I agreed to that ONE time, afterwards I got to be her bodyguard for a while. It's why I wore the damn costume, too, so nobody would ever recognize me."

Looking like he was almost desperate to believe his own words, Buck snapped, "There's no way that was you, Junior!"

"Haven't you ever heard of body doubles, Buck? I did everything but THAT."

Buck sighed, obviously relieved.

Chris was totally confused and getting angry about it, "What the hell are you two talking about?"

Buck turned to the two men by his side and was surprised to see Nathan was also in the dark about the conversation. He sighed, shut the door and asked, "You guys didn't recognize her?" At their blank looks, he said, "That woman that just walked out of here is only one of the biggest porn stars that ever was, in the whole United States. She's retired now and is a philanthropist, but shy about the limelight for her good deeds. Like Vin said, she's good people."

When Chris and Nathan's jaws dropped open, Vin practically yelled, "Body double," then pulled the pillow from behind his head to bury his face in it.

JD came into the room at that moment and pointed his thumb over his shoulder, "Who was the lady that just left? She looks real familiar."

Vin pulled the pillow down and stared in surprise as Buck asked with a wicked grin, "JD, since when do you watch porn movies?"

JD stammered and stuttered for a few seconds before snapping, "I don't! I never!"

Vin started to laugh and that set off the other three while JD just stood there and looked angry.

+7+

The next night, they'd all laughed when JD had produced a copy of an old television show he'd watched reruns of on weekday afternoons as a kid, Leah Stevenson had been a child actor with a part time role as a recurring character.

"See? THAT'S why she looked familiar to me!" He grinned at them, knowing full well this evidence totally vindicated him in their eyes.

Vin had laughed the loudest, "She never told me about that! Can I have a couple copies of this, JD?"

He smiled at his friend, "Sure, Vin."

+7+

Later on, Chris and Nathan settled Vin into one of his guestrooms. The pain pill they'd made sure the man took earlier putting the sharpshooter out for the night.

In the living room, the rest of the team were scattered around in various chairs, couches and in the case of JD off to one side working on something electronic at a table. Buck had the remote in hand and tilted his head to ask if he should press 'play' or not.

Chris picked up his beer, "Hit it!"

Buck fast forwarded it to Vin's fight scene. That part all six men watched and were impressed. Once that part was over, though, Buck suggested he fast forward the movie to the next bit with Vin. After a while, Buck quietly crowed, "This is Junior's seduction scene!"

JD turned his back on the porn movie, concentrating on the equipment in front of him. Nathan had told him what Vin had said and how red he'd been. The youngest Agent of Team Seven thought they should respect the fact that their friend obviously was embarrassed by this part of his past and leave it alone. He was outvoted, however, but he didn't want to leave Vin without a sympathizer in the house.

JD cringed at the cheesy lines the woman was using to "seduce" the silent Ninja on the screen. He shuddered so much at one point, he dropped one of his tools on the floor. When he bent over to pick it up, he caught the reflection of the television screen in the glass front of the stereo system. Freezing with shock for all of two seconds, he sat up quickly and turned slightly to look at Nathan who was sitting closest to him.

The team medic was stunned for a moment before wiping his expression to match the ones on Buck and Chris who were throwing popcorn at the screen.

Buck paused the film, "See, I told ya. Vin said it wasn't him in THAT bit." In the quiet that followed that statement, Josiah's snore could be heard. The three facing the television laughed quietly at the sound.

JD had turned back to the table just in time to avoid being seen by anybody else, or so he thought.

+7+

Across the room, Ezra, had looked away from the screen in distaste and seen their youngest team member freeze while picking up the dropped tool. When the younger man had turned to look at Nathan, the undercover man caught the medic wiping the stunned expression off his face as well as the obvious (to him) effort to NOT look at JD. Ezra noted JD's posture remained tense until the clearly welcomed laughter at Josiah's snores and drew some conclusions he decided he would keep to himself.

After that, Buck ran the movie to the credits to show how Vin was billed there. It was one of the ways the mustached Agent had figured out Vin was in the film. He was billed as . .

+7+

When the men were all saying goodnight, JD and Nathan managed to be two of the last to leave, out in the driveway in the dark. JD stood at Nathan's driver's window, his earnest expression clear in the dashboard light and reflected headlights, "You won't tell them, will you, Nate? Please say you won't?"

With a sigh, the medic shook his head, "Nothing to tell, is there? Vin said it wasn't him. I'll let that be the end of it."

Sagging with relief, JD thanked his friend and stepped back so that the man could drive away. He walked to his bike and got on, but hesitated to put on his helmet. He was remembering helping Nathan staunch the flow of blood from another bullet wound in his friend's hide. One that gave him a close up view of the tiny, half moon scar in Vin's groin area, the very same half moon scar that had featured prominently in the sex scene of the porn movie.

Out of the darkness a gruff voice said, "Thanks, JD. I appreciate you and Nathan not saying anythin' to the rest of 'em. I'd never hear the end of it if they knew the truth."

Grinning without turning his head, JD said, "You're welcome. Now get back in there and really take your pain pill before Chris realizes you slipped out or he'll call Nathan back to give you a shot in your butt."

A low chuckle that faded away was his only answer and he waited a couple of minutes to kick start his bike, knowing that would be when Chris went to the bedroom to check on his injured Agent. Under cover of the motor, JD laughed out loud and drove away.


End file.
